Shurry stopped, noticing a familiar, yet unfamiliar scent coming from the fruits of this tree. He poked his head, trying to get a better grasp on the scent. His mouth started to water as he thought about it.
Alfia noticed this reaction and whispered a word, then she caught the falling fruit, she took a bite, and then showed the inside of the fruit to Shurry. "Little brother, see, it's got a meaty flavor, we call them Mruits."
At this point Shurry didn't register anything beyond the word "meat". And quickly jumped up to a branch, grabbed a Mruit, and started eating it… Started and finished it. "SOO GOOOD!!" Shurry exclaimed in a shiver of expressive joy.
The pervy bunny giggled. "Little brother's never had it before?"
"No, but I have had lots of rabbit before, really tasty too!"
"Well it's a good thing I'm not a rabbit then?" The pervy bunny, for the first time, in a while removed the bunny ear head band. "See, I'm just a regular human."
Shurry, absolutely freaked out, he made a few weird wolf noises in the process, and even fell off the tree branch to the ground. Recovering, he went around smelling the now human boy. "Huh? The rabbit scent is completely gone?! Black Magic! Ahh!" He cried out, grabbed the head band and ran off, so fast that the other three couldn't keep up.
By the time they did find him again, he was already at another tree happily eating Mruits, like they were small candies. The three of them panting, the girls sweating far more than normal, arrived. The boy had brought his keen eye with him and took notice of the missing headband. "Hey, where's my headband?"
"Buried, somewhere in this forest." Shurry said, and ate another of Mruits, with a big smile. "No black magic that can fool my nose. I'd have to treat you like a bad person."
In reality, the headband was already in Maxim's hands. But, the fake bunny boy didn't need to know that. "Gosh, little brother can be so mean." He ran off, shouting something else: "I just wanted to hop around like a bunny!"
"Wait you dummy! We can't make it back to camp this far out." Meteria shouted, with a little of the vitality she had left.
Shurry jumped down, and transformed. "I can carry you back. I'll heal you on the way too!" And then something caused him to change his expression.
It was Luna, she woke up, stretched, and yawned. She was about a half celch taller than before, along with a proper proportional increase in all areas. She was still tiny, but definitely had a difference in her strength.
"Luna, you're awake again! Yay!" Shurry cheerfully exclaimed, tail wagging so hard trees almost fell over.
"Yep! That was a nice meal you got me the other day, Shurry. I needed a good nap to process all of it."
"SO CUTE!" Meteria squealed, eyes sparkling with intrigue, seeing the beautiful moon spirit.
Alfia grimaced at all the loud and unexpected sounds. "Can we please get going soon, little brother. I'd like to lay down."
Shurry laid down to make it easier for the twins to get on his back, once on, he stood back up, and walked at a brisk pace, still wanting to enjoy the scenery. But he also simultaneously casts his spell to help the twins to recover their lost stamina, and push back against the illness within their souls.
By the time they returned to the camp, the twins were ready to go for quite a while longer after their stamina, and vitality had been restored. Shurry all but collapsed, having exhausted a lot of his magic. On the other hand, his magic hadn't been completely depleted this time, which was a huge change when compared to the first time they did this.
"Wow, little brother, you're amazing! I feel even better now, than I did after you did this the first time." Meteria praised, petting Shurry's wolf form.
"Agreed, little brother is exceptional. He's able to reduce the sound in my head, even if only a little bit." Alfia smiled, dismounting, and adding to the petting.
Shurry was tired, but rolled over for a belly rub. Which was so cute, that it wasn't just the twins who joined in the petting.
"Alright, alright. That's enough of that for now. Shurry, We brought the Amphisbaena's magic crystal down here with us. Since it seems it is time to devour it as well."
Luna floated up, pumping her fists excitedly too. "You mean another big meal right after another! So cool!"
"Indeed, Miss Luna. Shurry killed the boss via roasting it alive in a pressure cooker made out of his platforms. It was quite the sight."
"Oh wow. I missed it. I can't believe it took me a whole day and then some to finish digesting that other one… I don't wanna miss the next one."
"There's no need to worry about that. He's not fighting any of the other Monster Rexes on this dungeon trip. He might be strong enough for some of them, but we're going to take care of them, using new strategies. And even use them as level ups for our members. We can't afford to lose anymore than Goliath, and Amphisbaena."
Luna pouted, poking her tiny fingers together, holding back tears. "So… No… More… Meals… After this one?" She broke out into a full cry.
"Oh no, not that, you'll still have free access to the crystal to help strengthen yourself. After all we need you to get stronger too, we are relying on your unique ability as a spirit to push back against our twins' illness. In the only way you can."
"So I can eat away!" Luna's mood almost flipped completely.
"Yep! All the food you want! I'm jealous since there's no real meat down here… Oh! Uncle Maxxy!" Shurry expressed with enthusiasm, transforming back to normal. "Can we bring those trees up to the surface with us? I want some trees that grow meat! It'd be soo good!"
"Uh, we can come to that after we finish the mission we're currently on. How's that?"
"Okay!" Shurry smiled, excited at the idea of eating those fruits on the daily.
Lyca watched these events unfold in real time. Though she had an odd feeling when Shurry transformed. "Did he… Can he do that? Surely not, right? That's absurd…"